VAUGHT: Players feel they deserve criticism

Larry Vaught

09/19/2005

Kentucky's poor play at Indiana already has many fans wondering if coach Rich
Brooks will, or should, be back next season. The Cats are 1-2 heading into Saturday's game against No. 5 Florida and a 1-10
record seems like a foregone conclusion to most Big Blue fans after the
Wildcats' disappointing performance at Indiana.

Kentucky's poor play at Indiana already has many fans wondering if coach Rich
Brooks will, or should, be back next season.

The Cats are 1-2 heading into Saturday's game against No. 5 Florida and a 1-10
record seems like a foregone conclusion to most Big Blue fans after the
Wildcats' disappointing performance at Indiana.

However, before all the blame is heaped on Brooks for UK's play, two players
said Monday that the players deserve just as much criticism as the coach.

"We didn't execute the way we were supposed to," said offensive lineman
Michael Aitcheson. "They scored too much and we didn't score enough. That's
all it boils down to.

"I think collectively we should all take the blame for the way we played. He
(Brooks) is the coach and we played. We all played a part in it. To just blame
the head coach is wrong. He wasn't the one playing."

Cornerback Antoine Huffman says he seldom has time to read newspapers, watch
TV news or listen to radio sports talk shows. Even if he did have time, he
says he would avoid all of them this week.

"A lot of people that really don't know what is going on have opinions. Most
are going to be negative opinions, especially about the coaches. I can't worry
about those things," Huffman said. "How could you just blame the coach for the
way we played? That's not fair."

Aitcheson surprisingly didn't think Kentucky's effort was nearly as bad as
what it appeared to be. "The hustle was there. The effort was there. It was
the execution part that was awful. We just didn't get the job done," he said.
"Now we have Florida. Any time you play a team of Florida's caliber, it's an
opportunity to bounce back and show what you can do. This is our chance. When
you have a team as good as Florida coming up, it should be easy to have a
positive mindset no matter what happened last week."